Mediation victory: All displaced ODJFS employees likely to return to work;
L-M contracting committee also created

Sept. 12, 2008 - During a Sept. 11 mediation session, the union and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services came to an agreement that will result in 32 newly created permanent, full-time bargaining unit positions.

As a result of the settlement, all ODJFS employees displaced or placed into part-time Established Term Appointment Type positions during the recent layoffs will have an opportunity to be placed in the new positions, which includes 29 Customer Service Representative positions and three Data Entry Operator 2 positions. Impacted employees must meet minimum qualifications to be considered for these positions.

All displaced bargaining unit employees will be notified of these new positions via joint labor/management communication in the coming weeks. It is estimated that there will be 13 fewer ETA positions once these new positions are created.

Also, as result of the settlement, two Training Officers impacted by layoffs will return to work in the end of September.

“This agreement is a victory for OCSEA members,” said OCSEA/ODJFS Assembly President Tommy Jones. “We’re pleased that our members will be back to work full-time and doing what they do best: serving the people of the State of Ohio.”

The union and management came together to mediate after a statewide layoff grievance and several other grievances were filed following layoffs. The union argued that the ODJFS rationale didn’t satisfy the burden that layoffs were the result of a downward economy.

As also argued by the union, the employer was in violation of Articles 1.05 and 39 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which requires this work be done by OCSEA bargaining unit members – not contractors or exempt employees. The union also argued that Training Officer work is bargaining unit work and is mandated as such under federal regulations.

Although all grievances having to do with the recent layoffs were resolved, an award was rendered denying a grievance filed out of Toledo, which stated that bumping following layoffs resulted in nepotism.

Another major victory to come out of the mediation is the creation of a labor/management Contracting Subcommittee to look at contracting out issues within ODJFS, with particularly focus on its IT functions.

“It has always been the union’s argument that significant savings can be made by keeping work in-house and, hopefully, this committee will play a role in making that argument a reality,” said Jones.

“We just made it through one round of budget cuts and, just announced this week, we’re about to be hit with more cuts,” Jones said. “There’s a lot this committee can do to make sure those cuts impact as few of our members as possible”

See Related

Grievance Settlement (PDF)

OCSEA / ODJFS Union Toolbox

Privatization Toolbox